Ornamented fabric and method of and apparatus for ornamentation



Patented Jan. 24, 1928.

UNITED STATES .TOSEIE` CHALOUPKA,

OF ACTON, LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO JULIUS GATO VREDENBURG, OF LONDON, ENGLAND. i

ORNAMENTED FABRIC AND METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR ORNAMENTATION.

Application led February 17, 1925, Serial No. 9,839, and in Austria January 27, 1925.

This invention relates to ornamented fabrics and to the method of as well as to an apparatus for ornamentation.

It has been known -to decorate or ornament fabrics, such as gauze, silk or the like, by applying thereto drops or globules of gum-arabic or like materials. Furthermore it has been proposed to use as material to be applied the condensation-products of 1o phenol and formaldehyde in order to obtain ornaments unaffected by heat and moisture, for which purpose the said materia-l is arranged in pattern effect on the fabric atan intermediate stage of the chemical reaction M between phenol and formaldehyde, during which the mass is still liquid or at least plastic, and is thereafter on the fabric Yrendered insoluble and infusible.

According to the present invention the fabric is ornamented by means of a mate'- rial, which consistsof the final products of the reaction between a urea or its derivatives on the one hand and of aldehydes, especially formaldehyde on the other.

The reaction between urea or its derivatives and formaldehyde takes place in three stages. First of all water-soluble initial products are formed, which at ordinary temperature or when heated gradually assume an increased viscosity. At a given moment these initial products set by gelatinization to a semi-liquid intermediate product, which is less soluble in water. Finally, when allowed to stand at ordinary temperature or when heated the gelatinized masses are transformed into hard final products, insoluble in water. The hard artificial masses thus obtained are glass-like, of great beauty and stability. A

For ornamenting the fabric a condensa tion product of this kind is employed while in one of the intermediate stages of the chemical reaction resulting in the formation of the hard final product. If in some manner drops or little globules, or deposits in general of such condensation .productsare applied to a fabric, these deposits will after some time change to the state of the hard .insoluble final pro-duct. By applying heat this transformation may be considerably accelerated.

The final product, in contradist-inction to that of the reaction between phenol and formaldehyde, is perfectly colourless and has the. aspect of vrock crystal. Therefrom the important advantage results, that the ornaments can be made perfectly transparent and colourless or to show the most delicate shades of any tint. Also fluorescent effects can be obtained, which is. not the case with. thev condensation products of phenol and formaldehyde.v In so far as resistance to heat and moisture are concerned, these final products are not substantiallyinferior tothe condensation products of phenol and fornaldehyde, their hardness being the same.

In the following some steps, measures and means for carrying the invention into practice are described, which may'just as well be employed for applying to fabrics and the like any other liquidor semi-liquid material, capable of subsequently hardening, for the purpose of decorating or ornamenting Vthe fabrics.

In the 'accompanying drawing Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a machine for producing theornaments, Figs. 2 to 5 are sectional elevations of the device for applying the mass. to the fabric, showing different positions of its parts, and Fig. 6 shows by a diagrammatical way the principle on which the working of the machine is based.

`This principle consists of pushing a needlelike utensil 1 (Fig. 6) through the fab-i ric 2 on those places or points thereof where the ornament is intended to be fixed, thereafter applying a drop of the mass, to be use d for producing the decoration, to its polnt and finally withdrawing it from the fabric. Applying the drop to the needles point can most simply be effected by dipping the needle into a receptacle containing the liquid or semi-liquid mass. When the immersed needle is withdrawn from the mass, a drop 3 of the latter will remain adherent to its point and the greatest part of the mass of said drop 3 will be stripped off so as to be pressed against the underside of the fabric 2, when the needle is entirely pulled out ofthe latter. Some small amount of the material will remain adherent to the needle and will be stripped off by the upper side of the fabric, when the latter is pierced the next time by the needle. But even if no liquid remains adherent to the needle, when pulled out, a small amount of the mass forming the drop will pass on through the hole `to the upper surface of the fabric.

This smaller part will form a flat little drop 4 on the upper surface, which upper drop is the effect of gravity flatten and will assume the accompanymgdrawing. Here the fabric4 the'form of a fiat rivet-head, connected to the spheric drop 3 hya neck or web 5 which fills up the hole in the fabric. The fixing of the drop yconstituting the ornament Kby means of a rivet-head is of course much more reliable and effective than that resulting from hitherto known methods,in which the material employed for the ornament was not self-sealed on both sides of the fabric by piercing' such as described above, but applied to its upper surface only.

An essential difference of the new method as compared with those hitherto known, consists-alsoy in the form of the ornaments obtained thereby. `Whilst with the known methods only iiattened deposits can be obtained, the present method produces a. spherical form, like that of beads, so that the general aspect is similar to that of beads sewn on the fabric.

The most essential condition for obtainin deposits of globular shape is to Vlet the har ening of the mass take place at such position of the fabric, that the deposits are hanging on its lower surface, that is to say vat a position 'either exactly or approximately horizontal, so that gravity pulls the material in a direction approximately perpendicular to the surface of the fabric'and keeps it ten sioned in such direction.4 If this essential condition is fulfilled, globular deposits may be obtained even if semi-liquid deposits are applied to the fabric in the hitherto known manner by downward movement from above.

The above explained principle may be carried into effect by various modes, one of which is by way of example illustrated by 2 to be decorated is spread between two bars 6 by attaching its lateral rims or pins 7 of the bars. The latter are supported by the frame 10 and guided by recesses 8 of rails 9,

which are forming part of the frame. Means are provided for lengthwise moving at a iven moment both bars simultaneously, for instance by turning the handle 11 of a ropedrum 12, the ropes 13. of which are at 14 fastened to the bars 6. i

The device for applying the ornamentation to the fabric is mounted ina frame 15, which is guided by rods 16 in bearings 17 so as to be vertically shiftable. Lifting and lowering of this frame l5 can be effected by means of a lever 18, the slot 19 of which enages with a bolt 2O screwed into the rod 16. %Vithin the frame 15 there is a second smaller frame 21, provided with a perforated bottom 22. By means of screws 29 this second frame can be adjusted and fixed within the former. The perforations of the bottom 22 may either be arranged so as to form the pattern to be produced or they may be uniformly distributed all over the'surface of the bottom plate, in which latter case the same bottom can be used for making various patterns. To the lower surface of the bottom 22 rails 32 are secured for a'purpose to Je explained further on. 'Within the frame 2l a third frame 23 is provided, which has also a perforated bottom plate 24, the perforations ofthe latter being arranged so as to` correspond exactly to those of the bottom plate 22'. The frame 23 is vertically movable within the frame 21 and is, for assuring exact movement, guided by pins 25,

which are rigidly fastened to the bottom of frame 2l. For lifting up and lowering it serves a fourth frame 28 having only three sides, two of whichform handles at their front endsfThese side bars bear pins 27, engaging with slanting slots 26 of the frame 23 in such manner, that by pulling the said sidebars in one direction, the frame 23 will be lifted up and by pushing them in the other 4will be lowered. Below the path of the fabric `a receptacle 30 -is mounted, the

area of which is about the same as that of the frame 23. This container 30 can be shifted vertically by means of a lever 31 and appropriate links connected thereto, and is to be filled witlftlie liquid or plastic mass to be employed for producing the orna1nenta-- tion. If ornaments of Various colours are to be made, the receptacle is subdivided accordingly, each division containing a mass of different colour.

In the illustrated example the perforations of the bottom plates 22 and 24 are ar-` ranged so as to form the pattern. In every one of these holes a needle 1 is inserted, the head 33 of which rests upon the bottom 24.

VA relatively heavy plate 34 laid into the frame 24 on the heads of the needles holds the latter in place.

The apparatus is to be operated as follows: y

At the beginning of each Working period both frames carrying the needles are kept at a certain vdistance from the fabric, as is shown in Fig. 2. By pressing the lever `18 downward they are lowered into the position as shown by Fig. 3. in which the lower edges of the rails 32 are placed immediately above the path of the fabric. 'If now the frame 23 is lowered by horizontally shiftingr the frame 28, the needles, lwhich are vertically guided by the perfor-ations of the bottom plate 22, will pierce thefahric 2. It the latter is densely woven, it will generally be necessary to support itduring the time the frame 23 is descending, in order to obtain .i

lllll that` all needles will uniformly and surely penetrate. For this purpose a feltplate 36 (Fig. 4) may be used as a support or else a perforated plate, the holes of which correu spond exactly to those of the two bottomwas the case with the needles in the bottom placed underneath the applying device. i

lates. After the needles have pierced the abric, the felt plate or its substitute 1s removed and now the receptacle 30 is lifted up byl means of the lever 31. (Fig. 5.) AThereby the points of the needles are dipped into the'liquid, part of which will, when the receptacle is let down again, remain adherent to the points and will form drops. Thereafter the frame 23 is lifted so that it will reassume the position according to Fig. 3. Thereby the drops adherent to the needles will be stripped off therefrom by the fabric. Also during this upward movement of'the frame 23 it is necessary t6 keep the fabric in position in order to assure that all the needles are uniformly pulled out therefrom. According to the illustrated example this is obtained by the rails 32 a sufficient number of which are secured to the bottom plate 22 as has been mentioned above.

, The lower surface of the fabric will now carry drops arranged in the same position as surface of the fabric plate 24. On the to flat little drops have een formed, connected".V

to the drops on the under-side, thus securing the latter to the fabric in the manner of a rivethead.

Finally by actuating the lever 18 the frame 15 is lifted and will thus come back into its original position as shown by Fig. 2, so thatthe described series of operations can be repeated. But preliminary to that the fabric is by turning the handle 11, to be advanced so far, that the next part thereof, to be provided with'the same ornament, \is

During the hardening of the applied ornaments the horizontal position of the fabric is to be maintained,as otherwise the drops 3 would lose their. spherical form. Therefore the fabric is preferably left on the bars 6, whichfor the purpose of keeping them in the same distance after removalfrom the rails 9, are to be provided with somev appropriate means, such as for instance the flat rails 37, which, as work proceeds, are successively mounted on the bars by means of thumb-screws.

The fabric to be ornamented may be of any character suitable for the intended purpose, such as for instance woven, knitted, netted, felted or leather fabric.

In the followingclaims I use the term urea not only to include carbamide. but also thio-urea and substitution products of urea or of thio-urea.

What I claim is:

l. The method of ornamenting fabrics, which consists in placing in contact with the fabric spaced liquid-or semi-liquid deposits of an intermediate reaction product of a urea and of an aldehyde having the property of forming a clear hard solid, forming upon each deposit a neck extending through the fabric and a rivet-head upon the neck that secures the deposit to the fabric, and then transforming the deposits into the hard final product. Y v

l 2. The method of ornamenting fabrics which 'consists in applying deposits .of a liquid or semi-liquid material to the lower face of a fabricin spaced relation to each other, supporting the fabric in a stretched condition for advancement to different positions in a horizontal plane, and hardening the deposits While the fabric is supported in the horizontal plane with the deposits hanging from the lower face of the fabric.

3. The method of ornamenting fabrics which consists 'in piercin the horizontally spread fabric by means o a needle on those points which are `to receive an ornament, dipping the needle into the mass constituted by the liquid or plastic intermediate products of the reaction between a urea and aldehydes, and thereafter pulling the needle out of the fabric, whereby the drop remaining adherent to the needle after withdrawal from` said mass will be stripped off by the fabric to form hard, insoluble, glass-like deposits. 4:. The method of ornamenting fabrics which consists in piercing the horizontally spread fabric by means of a needle on those 'points which are to lreceive an ornament, dipping the needle into a mass constituted by the liquid orplastic intermediate prod-,

ucts of the reaction between a urea and aldehydes, thereafter pulling'l the needle outl of the fabric, whereby the drop remaining adherent to the needle after Withdrawal from said. mass will be `stripped off by the fabric, and reducing the deposited mass into the state of the hard final productat horizontal position of the fabric'.

5. The method of ornamenting fabrics which consists in supporting the lower s urface of the horizontally spread Afabric,AV on such places which will not receive an ornament, piercing the horizontally spread fabric` by means of a needle at those points which are to receive an ornament, dipping the needle into a mass constituted by the liquid or plastic intermediate ,products` of the reaction between a urea and aldehydes, pulling the needle out of the fabric, w ereby the ydrop remaining adherent to the needleafter withdrawal from said mass will be stripped olf by the fabric.' and transforming i the-deposited mass into the hard final product at horizontal position of the fabric with the drops hanging nits lower surface.

6. The method of ornamenting fabrics which consists in supporting the lower surface of the horizontally ,spread fabric on such places which will not receive an ornament, piercing the horizontally spread fab ric by means of a needle at those points which are to receive an ornament, dipping the needle into a mass constituted by the liquid or plastic intermediate products of the reaction between a urea and aldehydes, supporting the fabric also from above, ulling the needle out of the fabric, where y the drop remaining adherent to the needle after withdrawal from said mass will beistripped off by the fabric, and transforming the deposited mass into the hard final product at horizontal position of the fabric with the drops hanging on its lower surface.

7. Apparatus for ornamenting' fabrics, consisting of means 'for supporting a fabric .to be ornamented in a horizontally spreading condition and so that it may be advanced in a horizontal plane while its spreading condition is maintained, a needle carrier, and means for lifting and lowering the needle carrier to cause the needles to project thru the spreading fabric. y

8. Apparatus for ornamenting fabrics, consisting of means for supporting a fabric to be ornamented in a horizontally spreading condition and so thatnit may be advanced in a horizontal plane while its spreading condition is maintained, a frame with a perforated bottom, needles carried by said frame and having heads resting upon said bottom, and meanskfor liftino' and lowering the frame to cause the needles to project thru the spreadin fabric. L' f 9. Apparatus or ornamenting fabrics, donsisting of a frame with a perforated bottom, on which the heads of needles rest, a plate laced within 'this frame for the purpose of eeping the needles down, means .for lifting and lowering the frame carrying the needles, means for horizontally spreading the fabric, and means for placing a liquid or plastic substance upon the needles to be applied by the needles to the fabric. y

10.' Apparatus for ornamenting fabrics, consisting of a frame with a perforated bottom, on which the heads of needles rest, a plate placed within this frame for the purpose of keeping the needles down, a second frame with a perforated bottom guiding the needles, means for lifting and lowering the frame carrying the ncedlesfmeans for horizontally spreading the fabric, and means for presenting a liquid or plastic substance to the peedle's to be applied by the needles to the a ric.

11. Apparatus vfor ornamenting fabrics, consisting of asframe with a perforated bots tom, on which the heads ofv needles rest, a plate placed within this frame for the pur-5' pose of keeping the 'needles 'dow a second frame with a perforated bottom guiding the needles, means for lifting and lowering the frame `carrying the needles, a third frame, in which the second frame guiding the needles is adjustably mounted, means for lifting ,and lowering this third frame means for is adj ustably mounted, means for lifting and lowering this third frame, means for horizontally spreading the fabric, an open receptacle to hold the mass to be employed for producing the ornamentation and means for lifting and lowering this receptacle.

13.l Apparatus for ornamenting fabrics, consisting of a frame with a perforated bottom, on which the heads of needles rest, a plate placed withinthis frame for the purpose of keeping the needles down, a second frame with a perforated bottom guiding the needles, means for lifting and lowering the frame carrying the needles, a third frame, in which the second frame guiding the needles is adj ustably mounted, means for lifting and lowering the third frame, means for horizontally spreading the fabric, an open receptacle subdivided by partitions, and means for lift ing and lowering this receptacle.

14. Apparatus for ornamenting fabrics, consisting of a frame with a perforated bottom, on which the heads of needles rest, a plate placed within this frame for the purpose ofkeeping the needles down, a second frame with a perforated bottom guiding the needles, means for lifting and lowering the frame carrying the needles, a third frame, in

ywhich the second frame guiding the needles "of the fabric, an integral neck extending through an aperture in the fabric and a rivet-head at the opposite face ofthe fabric and formed of a material applied to the fabf ric in a liquid or semi-liqui condition.

\16. As anew article of manufacture, a pli` able fabric ornamented byfseparate `hard deposits having a globular form at one face of the fabric, an integral neck extending through-an aperture in the fabric and a rivethead at the oppositeface of the fabric and formed ofya condensation material applied to the fabric prior to the formation of said neck and rivet-head.

' 17. As a new' article of manufacture, a pliable fabric ornamented byr spaced hard insoluble deposit-s of the final condensation product obtained by the reaction between a urea and formaldehyde., which depsits are w of globular form.

18. As a new article of manufacture' a pliable fabric ornamented by separate hard deposits having a globular form at one face of the fabric, an integral neck extending through the aperture in the fabric and a rivethead at the opposite face of the fabric and formed of the condensation product obwhereof I haveaiixed my JOSEF CHALOUPK'A.

tained by the reaction between a ureav and 

